A multi-objective optimization based doherty power amplifier and its matching network optimization method

In the actual design process of traditional power amplifiers, there is a problem of being cumbersome and unable to simultaneously meet low power and saturation modes. Therefore, an improved multi-objective optimization algorithm proposed by decomposition is introduced to optimize its matching network to achieve overall optimization design of power amplifiers. The algorithm, matching network, and optimized power amplifier performance are simulated and verified. The experimental outcomes denote that on the logic function with Zener diode transistor, the proposed algorithm has a mean generation distance index of 5.03E-3, which is lower than most algorithms. Its overall comprehensive performance is better than the comparison algorithm, and compared to the comparison algorithm, it converges more quickly in the early stage of iteration on 1 and 2, and tends to stabilize in the 40th generation, and completes convergence in the 80th generation. In addition, the optimal solution has already begun to appear around the 25th generation and reached saturation around the 70th generation. At the same time, in the actual working bandwidth, the optimized power amplifier saturation efficiency reaches 51.5%~61.9%, and the efficiency at 6dB power backoff is about 44.4%~56.5%. Overall, the algorithm proposed in the study is effective in optimizing power amplifiers and their matching networks, effectively solving the problem of insufficient efficiency in low power modes in traditional designs.


Introduction
Currently, many fields are facing highly challenging optimization problems that must simultaneously meet multiple conflicting objectives.Therefore, for multi-objective optimization (MOO) problems, it is necessary to find a set of solutions that can meet multi-objective equilibrium [1].For MOO, in recent years, evolutionary algorithm has been gradually applied to MOO problems due to its strong practicability and high learning rate.At the same time, to adapt to the actual MOO problems, it has been optimized and derived multi-objective evolutionary algorithms (MOEAs) [2].Multi-objective optimization method refers to the way optimization algorithms handle multiple conflicting objectives.In addition, power amplifiers are the most power consuming components in radio transmitters, mainly used to convert DC energy into RF energy, which is then fed to a radiating element and propagated into free space.
In order to reduce the impact of direct current consumption on radio transmitters, the efficiency, bandwidth, and linearity of power amplifiers play an important role in the overall radio transmitter.In the design of communication system, the application of MOEA in power amplifier can effectively improve its performance.At the same time, with the emergence of the fifth generation wireless communication system, the improvement of power amplifier performance has become the current focus [3].However, the traditional MOO algorithm for power amplifier design has the problems of slow rate of convergence, low efficiency and quality, and difficult to meet both low-power mode and saturation mode, Therefore, the study utilizes the Decomposition Multi Objective Evolutionary Algorithm with Improved Strategy of Differential Density Adjustment (MOEA/D-ND) with an improved differential density adjustment strategy to optimize its matching network and achieve overall optimization design of power amplifiers [4].The aim is to improve the performance of the algorithm and enhance the overall performance of the power amplifier.
The research is divided into four parts.The first part summarizes and discusses the research on MOO algorithms and power amplifiers both domestically and internationally.The second part is to optimize the Doherty power amplifier (DPA) and its matching network architecture by using MOO, including improving the traditional MOEA and optimizing the matching network architecture.The third part is to verify the overall performance of the algorithm, matching network, and power amplifier.The fourth part is a summary of the entire article.

Related works
MOO refers to the way optimization algorithms handle multiple conflicting objectives, which includes methods of utilizing preferences, dominance, and decomposition.In addition, power amplifiers have received widespread attention due to their advantages of simple structure and high power backoff efficiency.With the development of communication technology, the industry has put forward higher requirements for the performance of power amplifiers.Therefore, the application of MOO algorithms in power amplifiers has gradually attracted the attention of scholars at home and abroad [5].Mengozzi M et al. proposed a generalized dual input digital early warning distortion method suitable for power amplifier modulation using MOO method to address the frequent problem of poor frequency modulation signal and distortion in traditional power amplifiers.This effectively improved the performance of the power amplifier itself [6].Bouali H and others proposed a multi-objective particle swarm optimization algorithm applied in power amplifiers based on swarm intelligence algorithm to solve the problem that it is difficult to balance the noise and voltage gain of traditional power amplifiers, to balance the noise and voltage gain based on the design of low-noise amplifiers [7].Purushothaman K E et al. addressed the issue of power amplifiers no longer meeting practical needs in the context of fifth generation communication technology, and optimized the power consumption and energy efficiency of current power amplifiers by using multi-objective sine cosine optimization algorithms, thereby effectively improving their reliability and accuracy [8].Liu H et al. proposed a system designed for automatic power amplifier based on simulated annealing particle swarm optimization algorithm to solve the problem of low automation level of current power amplifier and heavy application load in commercial applications, to effectively optimize the performance of DPA based on load modulation [9].
In addition, Liu L et al. proposed a MOO algorithm combining gravity search based on hybrid energy heterogeneous cellular networks to address the issue of high energy consumption in practical applications of current power amplifiers.This effectively reduced energy consumption while improving its performance [10].Costa W et al. aimed at the problem of low power and spectral efficiency of power amplifiers in visible light communication, optimized their transmission power and maximized spectral efficiency by using MOO algorithm, thereby reducing the bit error rate of signals and optimizing their performance [11].Devi S et al. proposed a multi-objective whale optimization algorithm by using swarm intelligence to solve the problem of low performance and high noise of preamplifiers in Dangqiu An Biomedicine, thus reducing human error in determining amplifier circuit size on the basis of optimizing its electrical parameters [12].
From the research of scholars at home and abroad, the current MOO algorithm for power amplifier design has the problems of slow rate of convergence speed, low efficiency and quality, and it is difficult to meet both low-power mode and saturation mode, and the matching network performance of power amplifier itself is also poor.Therefore, the MOEA/D-ND algorithm proposed by the density adjustment strategy is innovative.It not only optimizes the performance of the MOEA of the traditional power amplifier, but also optimizes its matching network to improve the overall performance of the power amplifier.The specific comparison content is shown in Table 1.

DPA and its matching network architecture combined with MOO
As a part of the wireless communication system, the power amplifier directly affects the overall performance of the communication system.However, the traditional decomposition based multi-objective evolutionary algorithm (DOEA/D) has the problem of slow rate of convergence.Therefore, this section improves it, and on this basis, proposes the optimization design method for DPA matching network.
2.1 MOEA/D-ND.To solve the problem that the rate of convergence of MOEA/D is insufficient due to the fixed genetic operation probability, an improved MOEA/D-ND is

Research method Innovation
Optimize the matching network using the improved multi-objective optimization algorithm proposed by decomposition to achieve the overall optimization design of the power amplifier Not only has the multi-objective evolutionary algorithm for traditional power amplifiers been optimized, but its matching network has also been optimized to improve the overall performance of the power amplifier https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0293371.t001 proposed.In traditional MOEA/D algorithms, the use of fixed crossover and mutation probabilities leads to computational resource waste when the difficulty of solving MOO problems varies [13][14][15].Therefore, while addressing the shortcomings caused by fixed operator probabilities in traditional algorithms, it is also necessary to improve the adjustment methods of crossover and mutation probabilities in the algorithm to meet the design requirements in practical applications [16][17][18].Research introduces the concept of density to improve it.Among them, neighborhood density is selected in the adjustment of crossover probability, and population density is selected in the adjustment of mutation probability.The calculation of neighborhood density is mainly carried out by calculating the difference between the weighted objective functions within the relevant individual's neighborhood.For the calculation problem of this objective function, the specific expression is shown in Eq (1).
In Eq (1), ψ i means the individual weight value; f(p i ) denotes the value of the objective function; f(p j ) expresses the neighborhood objective function value; W stands for the actual size of the neighborhood; E ψW refers to the individual weighted objective function value; A(i) refers to the set of individual neighborhoods.By processing the difference between the weighted objective value and the weighted objective function value of each individual's neighborhood, the neighborhood density value of that individual can be obtained, as expressed Eq (2).
InEq (2), ME i expresses the actual neighborhood density value of an individual; E(p i ) indicates the correlation distance on a non empty set composed of the actual weighted target value of the ith individual and the weighted target value of the corresponding neighborhood size, as expressed in Eq (3).
ffi ffi ffi ffi ffi ffi ffi ffi ffi ffi ffi ffi ffi ffi ffi ffi ffi ffi ffi ffi ffi ffi ffi ffi ffi ffi ffi ffi In Eq (3), E i cW and E j cW represent the actual weighted objective function values of individual populations and the actual weighted objective function values of individual neighborhoods.The probability of crossover and mutation affects the actual search efficiency of MOO algorithms.Therefore, changing these two probabilities through correlation differentiation between individuals is an effective way to further improve algorithm performance.For the degree of difference in individual neighborhoods, the expression of crossover probability is shown inEq (4).
In Eq (3), X b indicates the probability of crossing; δ 1 and δ 2 mean constants, where the former is set to 0.6 and the latter to 0.2; IE max refers to the maximum individual neighborhood density value in the population; IE ave denotes the degree of difference in the actual objective function of an individual's neighborhood, as expressed in Eq (5).
In Eq (5), I indicates the actual size of the population.Therefore, the crossover probability proposed based on differentiated neighborhood density is obtained by using Eq (1) to obtain the individual's neighborhood weight, and Eq (2) to obtain the individual's neighborhood density.Before crossover, different crossover probabilities are obtained by comparing the average neighborhood density with the individual's neighborhood density.To address the issue of individual quality in mutation operators, a differentiated population density is adopted to adjust and improve the strategy, so that the mutation probability varies according to certain rules.In the actual iteration of the population, the crossover probability is mainly controlled by the degree of differentiation of individual neighborhood target values, while the mutation probability is controlled for the overall population related target values.The expression of the modified individual density definition is shown in Eq (6).
In Eq (6), Ie j represents the collection density of the population; e(p j ) stands for the distance between the jth individual and a non empty set composed of target values with a population size of I, as expressed in Eq (7).
The corresponding coefficient of variation can be defined based on the difference in the objective function values between populations, as expressed in Eq (8).

Ie ave ð8Þ
In Eq (8), z(p j ) indicates the ratio of the average population density to the max and mini target difference of an individual; f(p j ) max and f(p j ) min represent the max and mini target values of the population.The density of mutation probability is defined by the actual differentiation of individual target values in the population, which fully considers more global diversity, and its expression is shown in Eq (9).
In Eq (9),X n indicates the probability of variation; Ie denotes population density; Ie ave expresses the average population density; β 1 and β 2 represent constants, with the former set to 0.3 and the latter set to 0.1.Therefore, before the substantial imposex of each generation of population, the variation probability adjustment strategy of the differentiated population density gets the corresponding population density according to the difference between the individual and the population target, further compares the average population density and population density, and assigns the variation probability under different conditions by Eq (6).Based on this, the specific process of the MOEA/D-ND algorithm is displayed in Fig 1 .From Fig 1, the algorithm process first initializes the population.Secondly, it sets corresponding crossover and mutation probabilities during population updates.Then it compares the crossover probability, mutation probability, and random number to determine whether the individual can undergo genetic operations.Finally, target values, aggregation functions, etc. Are used to update the relevant reference points, neighborhood solutions, and optimal solution sets until the maximum evolutionary iteration is reached and the algorithm is terminated.In response to the problem of poor convergence in traditional matching network design using electromagnetic software simulation to adjust the parameters of the matching network, the MOEA/D-ND algorithm is studied to optimize the design of the matching network.The structure is a network type step matching structure, and the load impedance of the structure is calculated through the transformation equation of the transmission line impedance, while the output impedance at the center frequency is expressed in Eq (10).
In Eq (10), S ϕ denotes the input impedance at the center frequency; S 0 means the relevant characteristic impedance of the transmission line; φ indicates the length of the transmission line; θ expresses the electrical length; o refers to the imaginary part of a complex number; S φ represents terminal load; R means resistance.

Design of DPA matching network architecture based on dual mode impedance error (DMIE).
On the basis of the proposed MOEA/D-ND algorithm, research is conducted on its application in the design of power amplifier matching networks.In response to the impedance conversion requirements of DPA itself, research is conducted to calculate the response parameters of the output matching network through the transfer matrix method.In response to the problem of traditional dual mode matching theory analysis methods being too complex, an optimization objective function for DMIE is proposed.At the same time, the MOEA/D-ND algorithm is combined to optimize the design of the output matching network in DPA.Due to the research application of DPAs, it is necessary to involve multiple frequency bands to improve the overall bandwidth performance.Due to the fact that the output matching network of DPA needs to be in both a saturated state and achieve impedance optimization in a low-power state, the objective function expression of its main power amplifier output matching network is shown in Eq (11).
In Eq (11), D denotes the objective function of the main amplifier output matching network; S means impedance; B expresses the main amplifier; t refers to low power mode; z represents saturation mode; opt stands for the target impedance; Re(S B_z ) and Im(S B_z ) represent the real and imaginary parts of the saturated mode load impedance; Im(S B_z ) and Im(S B_z_opt ) mean the real and imaginary parts of the saturation mode target impedance; Re(S B_t ) and Im (S B_t ) indicate the real and imaginary parts of the low power mode load impedance; Re (S B_t_opt ) and Im(S B_t_opt ) denote the real and imaginary parts of the low power mode target impedance; f v refers to the actual operating frequency within the bandwidth.From the perspective of the relevant output matching network of the auxiliary amplifier, there is a significant difference between the imaginary and real parts of the output impedance in the actual low-power mode, which is approximately pure reactance.At the same time, the output impedance is required to be greater than a certain reactance value.Therefore, the objective function expression is shown in Eq (12).
In Eq (12),Q expresses the auxiliary circuit amplifier; γ stands for the actual threshold of reactance.Based on load traction related techniques, the target impedances of the main and auxiliary circuits of the output matching network in saturation mode can be determined.Therefore, for the working frequency and target impedance, the expression of the objective function is shown in Eq (13).In Eq (13), to ensure consistent experimental conditions for traditional impedance optimization and dual mode impedance optimization, the actual operating frequency is set to 2.5GHz.The optimization objective function of the DMIE proposed in the study normalizes the target impedances of both modes accordingly, and the expression of the objective function of the main output matching network obtained from this is shown in Eq (14).
Similarly, the objective function expression of the auxiliary path output matching network is shown in Eq (15).
On the basis of determining the matching network topology and MOEA/D-ND algorithm of DPA, corresponding software is used to build a bridge that can be combined with each other.High frequency structure simulator (HFSS) software can take corresponding script commands to write files, to achieve automatic modeling and simulation of matching networks.Therefore, HFSS is chosen for joint simulation research.The specific process of joint simulation between MOEA/D-ND algorithm and HFSS is shown in Fig 2.
From Fig 2, the topology of the matching network is first selected according to the requirements and the design variables to be optimized are obtained.Secondly, the parameters are set using the MOEA/D-ND algorithm.Then the decimal code is generated and the script file is activated to build the matching network and model it, to obtain the load impedance in the low power consumption and saturated state.Finally, it uses the DMIE objective function Ali to calculate the objective function value, and evaluate its Xining to determine whether it meets the stopping criteria.If the corresponding design variables are selected according to relevant requirements, to obtain the optimal matching network of design variables.If not, the optimization algorithm will continue to generate new individuals for iterative calculation until the maximum number of iterations is reached, and the final design variables and corresponding objective function values will be saved.Finally, the output matching network circuit diagram of the Doherty power amplifier designed is shown in Fig 3.
From Fig 3, the input matching network is designed using a step impedance matching method and power allocation is carried out using a Wilkinson power divider.The initial values of the matching network are also filtered through multi-objective evolutionary algorithms.

Performance verification of improved DPA
To verify the performance of the improved DPA, the study first analyzed the performance of the MOEA/D-ND algorithm and the constructed matching network.In the algorithm performance verification, the improved strength Pareto evolutionary algorithm (SPEA-II), the improved non-dominated sorting genetic algorithms 2 (NSGA-II) and the MOEA/D algorithm were introduced to compare with the MOEA/D-ND algorithm (represented by A~D).Testing were conducted on the zero-ductility transition (ZDT) and diode-transistor logic with zener (DTLZ) functions, with 6 test questions set, namely ZDT1, ZDT2, ZDT3, DTLZ2, DTLZ4, and DTLZ7, represented by 1-6.At the same time, the evaluation indicators selected were generational distance (GD) and Spacing (SP).Therefore, the mean (standard deviation) results of GD and SP for different algorithms under different testing problems are shown in  2.
From Table 2, the mean values of algorithm D on ZDT were 5.16E-3, 3.48E-3, and 5.95E-3, while on DTLZ, the mean values of algorithm D were 2.45E-2, 4.75E-2, and 1.35E-1, indicating better solution quality.Overall, the overall comprehensive performance of algorithm D was From Fig 5, the overall solution quality of algorithm D was better.Compared to the comparison algorithm, algorithm D converged more quickly in the early stage of iteration in 1 and 2, and tended to stabilize in the 40th generation, while convergence was completed in the 80th generation.In 4 and 6, it was slightly better than the comparison algorithm, but in 6, it was obviously better than the comparison algorithm.In the early iteration, it not only had a higher rate of convergence, but also had a higher convergence accuracy.Overall, algorithm D had better convergence performance.Subsequently, the actual operational efficiency of different algorithms was analyzed and compared, and the results are shown in Fig 6.
From Fig 6, the mean calculation time of algorithm D on 1 and 2 was 8.22 and 7.25, respectively, with standard deviations of 0.23 and 0.16; The average calculation time of algorithm D on 4-6 was 83.81, 57.31, and 53.41, respectively, which were lower than the comparison algorithm.Overall, algorithm D could effectively handle complex MOO problems, thereby avoiding the waste of computing resources.Overall, its performance was optimal, so research has applied it to the optimization design of DPA and its matching network to verify its engineering application value.Among them, the matching network structure was modeled and run in the  From Fig 8, in the 10th generation, the values of the three algorithms were between 0.2 and 1.4, and they were unable to achieve convergence.However, in the 60th generation, the convergence accuracy was improved to some extent.Among them, algorithm D had relatively small fluctuations in the actual operation in the 20th and 60th generations, and remained between 0 and 0.8 overall, indicating its high stability.In response to the actual convergence of the algorithm in solving the target impedance of the matching network, the optimal individual corresponding load impedance was analyzed using Eq (10), and the results are shown in Fig 9.
From Fig 9, the actual load impedance density obtained by algorithm D was higher, and almost all of them converged to the target impedance, indicating that the solution quality of algorithm D was higher.Therefore, the study used 0.15 as the threshold and set the three goals and solutions below the threshold for each generation of individuals as the optimal solution.The solution quality of the three algorithms was compared to further validate the results, as shown in Fig 10.
From Fig 10, algorithm D has already begun to appear as the optimal solution around the 25th generation and reached saturation around the 70th generation.Overall, algorithm D had more advantages in terms of the number of optimal solutions compared to the other two algorithms.To further validate the results, the study applied them to the DPA design example.From Fig 12, the DPA optimized using Algorithm D had a correlation saturation rate of around 53.2% to 64.8% within the actual bandwidth, and an efficiency of 47.8% to 57.2% at 6dB power backoff.In addition, in actual working bandwidth, its saturation efficiency reached

Conclusion
In response to the problem of traditional DPA design methods being cumbersome and unable to simultaneously meet low power and saturation modes, MOEA/D-ND was proposed and applied to the optimization design of DPA and its matching network.At the same time, the algorithm and optimized DPA performance were experimentally verified.The experiment findings indicated that the values of MOEA/D-ND algorithm on the ZDT test function were 1.27E-3, 2.58E-3, and 2.12E-3, respectively, which were lower than those of the comparison algorithm; The mean values on the test function DTLZ were 3.52E-2, 5.40E-2, and 4.39E-2, which were mostly lower than the comparison algorithm.The average calculation time of the MOEA/D-ND algorithm on 1 and 2 was 8.22 and 7.25, both lower than the comparison algorithm.Taking the difference of 0.1 as the threshold, the MOEA/D-ND algorithm showed that all three targets were below 0.1 at around algebra 40.The optimal solution began to appear around the 25th generation and reached saturation around the 70th generation.At the same time, the correlation saturation rate of the DPA in the actual bandwidth reached around 53.2% to 64.8%, and the efficiency reached 47.8% to 57.2% when the 6dB power was backed off.Overall, the MOEA/D-ND algorithm had good convergence and stability.After its optimized design, the saturation and backoff efficiency of the DPA has been improved to a certain extent, and the performance basically met the requirements.However, if the optimized DPA with a 50% backoff efficiency is designed with a relative bandwidth of only 12%, further improvements and optimizations are needed.

Fig 4 .
From Fig 4, the mean values of GD indicators for algorithm D on ZDT were 1.27E-3, 2.58E-3, and 2.12E-3, respectively, which were lower than those of the comparative algorithms.From the standard deviation of GD indicators, the test values of algorithm D on the ZDT function were similar to algorithms B and C. In addition, on DTLZ, the mean GD indicators of algorithm D were 3.97E-4, 2.86E-3, and 5.03E-3, respectively; In the SP metrics on ZDT, algorithm D was second only to algorithm B and superior to the other two algorithms.The mean values on DTLZ were 3.52E-2, 5.40E-2, and 4.39E-2, respectively, which were mostly lower than the comparison algorithm.Overall, algorithm D optimized the convergence and stability of the algorithm by incorporating a differentiated density adjustment strategy.At the same time, it had good distribution on the solution set for solving multi-objective problems.For the overall comprehensive performance verification of algorithm D, the inverted generation distance (IGD) values of different algorithms under different standard test functions were studied and verified.The results are shown in Table